50. 1000 Hours Outside with Ginny Yurich

1000 hours may seem like a lot to be outside until you learn that that's the average amount of screen time kids are consuming throughout the year.  Combating screen time with green time is Ginny's specialty! Tune in to hear her story of how she started getting her kids outside and how she continues to year after year. 

Nature play has changed my children's lives as well as my own.  It has helped give them their childhood back and continues to be an important part of their development. 

GINNY'S NEW BOOK IS OUT NOW! You can buy your copy of Until the Streetlights Come On here!

Find everything you need for your outdoor adventures at 1000hoursoutside.com.

Follow Ginny on Instagram @1000hoursoutside

Listen to her inspiring podcast 1000 Hours Outside here or anywhere you get your podcasts!

Send Katie a message!

Start your KindSchooling journey today. Head to www.teamkindhumans.com or follow me on Instagram @teamkindhumans!

Episode Transcript

Katie Doughty (00:04):
everyone welcome back to another episode of
raising Cain humans. I am justcoming off of finishing the
gratitude preschool class that Iput on this morning with my dear
friend Lauren, of Miss Lauren'sMusic Studio. And I haven't
taught preschool since. I thinkit was spring of 2001 when I

(00:25):
spent the whole year on zoomwith preschoolers for leaping
letters. It was a very joyfultime, in a dark time. But I was
kind of itching to get back, Imissed preschool and I miss
doing the fun activities withthem. So I put together this
gratitude preschool class inhonor Thanksgiving coming up.

(00:46):
And I wasn't entirely sure howit would go because kids are
back to school. We're notzooming as often. But it was so
fun. It was so fun. And it justreminded me how much joy it
brings to be able to teach kidsfrom their living room. So we
read a story about gratitude.
And we played gratitude bingo.

(01:10):
And we did a craft, we did athankful pumpkin and Miss Lauren
did some beautiful thankfulsongs that we could sing along
with her. And it was a goodtime. I'm really excited. So
keep an eye out because now thatI know it works and it was fun
and kids are engaged and lovingit. I will be putting out more

(01:33):
classes like this. So keep aneye out for those. I'll keep you
posted when those are ready. AndI hope you can come join us if
you have a preschooler orkindergartner is a great age
about three to six or so is agreat age for these live
classes. So they're live.
They're interactive, we worktogether, we talk together we
share our ideas. And we learntogether. And speaking of

(01:57):
leaping letters, I just wantedto let you know that it is
currently on sale for the lovelylow price of 1984 is set at that
price, because I am stillcelebrating my birthday. And
that was such a lovely year tobe born. So 1984 is all it costs
right now to get the entirelibrary of leaping letters,

(02:19):
videos, we go A to Z, we do artwe do playdough and letter
writing and gymnastics andmovement activities and so many
fun things as you learn allabout the alphabet. So that is
available for you to unchain.
humans.com/leaping letters, youcan snag yours now. And that is

(02:41):
lifetime access. So you can playthrough the alphabet with
multiple children on your owntime. And have me in your living
room. So if you want to grabthat team can
humans.com/sleeping letters. Oh,today's episode. Oh my gosh, you
have no idea how thrilled I wasto talk to Jenny rich of 1000

(03:03):
hours outside. I have beenfollowing Ginny for a while now
she is such an inspiration. Shetakes a pretty simple concept
and makes it so impactful inyour family life. So she
encourages families to getoutside for 1000 hours a year.
And that sounds like a lot. Butwhen you break it down, she has

(03:26):
tons of amazing calendars andtrackers. When you break it
down. It's actually reallydoable. And the benefits that
happen for your kids, for youfor your family are incredible.
And I have experienced itfirsthand. I have seen the
changes in my own children fromgetting them outside more

(03:47):
frequently and getting them toplay and be that unstructured
outdoor time is it's just soimportant. And I've seen some
huge improvements in my kids,specifically in my youngest who
was experiencing some anxietyearlier in the year. And I

(04:09):
noticed when I started gettinghim outside more frequently and
encouraging him to get outsideand play. That anxiety started
to improve. And his confidencecame back. He was willing to try
new things. A lot of his anxietycentered around separation

(04:31):
anxiety and leaving me thatbecame a little better. And he
was excited to go to differentclasses. And now he's in some
full time classes all day long.
And I'm thriving and I really dobelieve it's because we made the
conscious effort to get outside.
So I'm really excited that youget to hear Jenny's story

(04:53):
because she's so relatable andshe makes it so simple to make
major improvements. In yourfamily life, and I'm really,
really grateful that she tookthe time to sit down with me and
talk about this really importanttopic. So without further ado,
please welcome Jenny. Jenny,welcome to the raising kind

(05:15):
humans Podcast. I'm so sothrilled that I get to sit
across from you today and divein to all of the goodness that
you are putting out in thisworld. So welcome. Oh, you

Ginny Yurich (05:25):
are so sweet to say that I am honored and
thrilled to be here. Thank youso much for having me.

Katie Doughty (05:30):
This is going to be so much fun. I have been
following you for a couple ofyears now listening to your
podcast and printing out thosetrackers and trying to do our
1000 hours outside. And I justfind that you are so motivating
because you make it so real, andsimple and kind of a duh, we

(05:50):
need to be doing this, this issuch an easy thing to do, that
will have maximum benefits forour kids. And so I appreciate
your little nuggets ofinspiration and your reminders.
And I'm always excited when Isee your podcast episode pop up
with a new episode like thistime. So thank you for putting
all that out. That's too much

Ginny Yurich (06:11):
trying to motivate myself at the same time. Right?
I think that this is a day andage where it's easy to lose
motivation. And not evenmotivation, but easy to lose
direction, where our time getsso sucked up. And we just
forget. So basically what I'mdoing is trying to motivate
myself and then just sharingwhat I'm doing what and I

Katie Doughty (06:27):
think that's amazing, because you make it
feel doable, because you'redoing it too, right. Like you
are in the trenches, you aredoing the same thing and telling
people, Hey, this is hard for meto but this is so important. So
let's do this together. And Ilove that come with me attitude
that you have.

Ginny Yurich (06:45):
Well, thank you appreciate that. Yeah, and I
think that I think we just shareour lives, right, I think that's
one of the best things that wecan do. And I think the people
that I've been most influencedby, who have written books, and
a lot of the books sometimes areeven a little edgy, like, like
they're sharing things thatpeople get offended by, or I've
gotten offended by. But most ofthe time, it's just sharing
their life and what's worked andwhat hasn't worked. And I think

(07:07):
because they're actually doingit, then you can join in. And
that's what I get a lot out of,

Katie Doughty (07:13):
yes or and also kind of the take what works for
you and leave the rest, right?
Like you can, you can follow andfollow along with whoever's
doing whatever they're doing.
And if it works for you, great.
And if it doesn't, you can leaveit to like not everything is a
one size fits fits all foreveryone. So it's kind of nice
to be able to pick and chooseand then yeah, be along for the
ride. Tell me about how you gotstarted that because you are a

(07:37):
mom and how many kids do youhave? We have five kids? Five
kids. Okay, so tell us a littlebit about your origin story of
how you started realizing, okay,this is important. I've got to
get my kids outside, I need tospread this message.

Ginny Yurich (07:54):
Okay, well, my origin story is I just
struggled, I was a total mess. Ihad these kids and I thought I
was gonna be amazing at it. AndI wasn't. And I just was
overwhelmed by the amount, thesheer amount of work. It was to
have a child we had three andunder three years, but like
literally right from thebeginning with one kid. I was
like, Whoa, what is going onhere. And I had planned like to

(08:18):
have a schedule. And I hadplanned to be a little routine
with like what we were doing inthat didn't work and I was
expecting it to work. So then Iwas really lost. And I was lost
actually for a very long time.
Because I wasn't quite sure howto pass the day. So I had been
used to working I worked rightup until we had our first child
like I worked up till Friday.
And then he came on Monday. Soyou know you're working right

(08:41):
and your your life is full. Andthen all of a sudden your life
is not full. But it's full in adifferent way of these tasks
that you're always behind on andyou have a crying baby and you
can't like get your houseworkand you didn't make the meal and
you didn't extras and you'rejust you haven't showered. And
it was just really a hardtransition for me and one that I

(09:01):
never really came out of. And wehad these other babies. And so I
was in the spot where I loved mykids. But I didn't love being a
mom. But I wanted to love beinga mom. That was the thing. Like
I was excited about it. I'dalways wanted to be a mom. And
here I am. It's like aconundrum. Right Katie? Like,
oh, no, you know, and thislasted for years. And so what I
was doing was I was trying topass the time with programs. So

(09:23):
that's what other people weredoing. I like looked around like
was everyone else doing withtheir time. So people are
signing up for this and they'resigning up for like the little
kicker soccer and they'resigning up for swim lessons. And
they're signing up for this momsclub. And they're signing up for
the library programming. So Iwas doing all those things, but
they were so much work for 45minutes. So I you know, I always
I tell the story. Sometimes Iwas like, what is it like to try

(09:45):
and get three small kids to thelibrary. It's like a circus, you
know, like everyone's indifferent size diapers, and
everyone needs an extra changeof clothes and you have to have
your library books and then youhave to have the stroller and
you're having to get everysingle kid into the car seat and
all that They're all nursing atthe same time, and you know,
then this one throws up and thenthat one has a diaper thing, and
then you're running late, andthen you got to get there. And

(10:07):
then you got to get everybodyout. And you got to make sure
that this one's holding yourhand. And as that one in the
stroller and that one's crying,you got to get them in the door,
make sure no one gets theirfingers smashed, and you got to
return the books, and then yougot to find the room for the
labor problem, then then you getin there, and your kids don't
even want to do it, you know, sothen you're trying to keep them
quiet. And I'm like, you'retrying to feed them a snack, and
then they're dropping the snackin this one's crying. And at our
library, they would at the veryend of the program, they would

(10:29):
dump out toys in the middle ofthe floor. Okay, that's cute.
These are new toys. But like,I'm trying to nurse a baby, and
my kid is fighting with that kidbecause they both want the same
toy and you can't and I don'tknow, I was like, This is
exhausting. Picture. So then yougot to do it all in reverse.

Katie Doughty (10:48):
You have to get back in the car.

Ginny Yurich (10:51):
No, no, look at my watch. And it'll be like 11am
You haven't you haven't hadlunch. I've been up since five.
You know, I'm like, my workdayis done. Like I have already put
in a full seven hours on nosleep. Whatever. So anyway,

(11:11):
that's how life was. And I justwas really I was very depressed
when it was in a dark spot.
Because I was like, this is likemy every single day. And the
kids were clingy. Like we hadfamily that was willing to help
but the babies were clingy. Likethey wouldn't go I remember. I
remember our youngest daughter.
I took her to, to thegrandparents to like in her

(11:33):
grandparents are so loving. Likethey're so attentive, my
husband's mom used to run adaycare. So I mean, there's so
they'll play with the kids. Andshe was like four, I think I
mean, she was old, it three anda half, four, I had something I
had to do. And I had to drop heroff for a couple hours. And I
mean, she she wailed the wholeway there. I mean, just wailed

(11:56):
that I was not going to be withher. You know, I mean, she's
seven, she still was like, Can Isit by you? Can I come sleep in
your bed? Can I do that? Youknow, like, they're just
attached. And so you have peoplethat are willing to help but
like your kid, your kid is notwilling to be held.

Katie Doughty (12:12):
Right? They're not open.

Ginny Yurich (12:14):
Like, it wasn't my choice. You know, you can't like
you know, like, I can leave myscreaming baby a little bit, but
like not like all the time. Soanyway, that was just how I was
living. And then I had a friendat mops, because mops is another
one of the programs that you goto right like, and they have
childcare. So he was really dropyour kids off. And then mine
always cry. So they always bringmy kids back to me. I was like,

(12:35):
oh my goodness, like I'm the momsitting at the table like
bouncing several kids. Andanyway, but I had this friend at
mops, who told me about so theseare just like the happenstance
things sometimes they happen inlife. Sometimes I think like,
what if I wouldn't have beenwith that mom at that table?
Like it's so random. So this momwas going to homeschool and we

(12:55):
were going to homeschool too. Sowe already both knew. But she
had her child was one year olderthan our oldest child. And so
she had started to research Ihad not done any research. So
she was researching. And shecame to my office one day and
she said, Charlotte Mason sayskids should be outside for four
to six hours, whenever theweather is tolerable. And I'd
never heard of Charlotte Mason.
And I thought that's reallyweird. Four to six hours, I was

(13:16):
like, this is the libraryprogram times five, you know,
like his dad would be awful.
That's how I was thinking. Ilearned years later. I don't
know when that Charlotte Masonwas from the 1800s. And also
never had kids. So I was like, Ifeel like my friend should have
caveat it. Right? She didn'ttell me that. I'm thinking this

(13:38):
is like information. Yeah, likethis is current information from
a mother. And but anyway,Charlotte Mason actually had
some really revolutionary ideas.
And, and so many of them havestood the test of time. But this
four to six hour thing. I justthought well, I mean, that's
really silly. like nobody'sdoing that. Nobody lives that
way. Who has four to six hours.
But anyway, so my friend waslike, she gives me the

(13:58):
information, then she's like,Would you like to try it? And I
was thinking like, no, of coursenot, like, do that. That's gonna
be awful. Like, have you been tothe library program? And this is
way longer. So anyway, but youknow, in those years, you're
really trying to havefriendships. Yes. And it's I
think that's a really trickypart of early motherhood is
trying to build thoserelationships, for your own

(14:20):
sanity for your kids haverelationships, while also being
in these really trying years. SoI said I would go, and this is
in 2011. So it's been a longtime. It's been 12 years. Almost
exactly. It was in September of2011. Where we went to a park
from nine in the morning to onein the afternoon. It was a park

(14:41):
that had no place set, noplayground was grass grass. What
what are we doing? You know,like we don't have water table.
We don't have playdough we don'thave a craft. We don't have
bullets like what are these kidsgonna do? And she had said to
bring up a blanket and a picniclunch and it was Katie it was
like, such a life changing daybecause it was my first good day

(15:06):
as a mom. Oh, gosh, I hadn't hadone. And I've been a mom for
three years. And I had not had agood day. And what happened was
we got there at nine in themorning, which wasn't hard,
because when little kids get upsuper early, so no problem to
get there by nine in themorning, brought food brought
the blanket, she had to toddlerpreschoolers running around, so

(15:26):
did I. So there's four kids torun around with each other. And
then we each had a baby. And thebaby's just nursed and slept and
sat and grabbed at the grass.
And it was beautiful weather andthe sun and the leaves and it
smelled good. And I got to havea conversation, like finish a
conversation. And the kids wouldjust kind of run back and forth.
And they would get food whenthey wanted it. I have no idea

(15:47):
what they did, for four hours,no idea. There was nothing to
do. There was like a littlecreek bed, they were throwing
rocks, they were running, theywere climbing things I don't
know. But all I knew is that byone o'clock, I felt good. And
they felt good. And then theyall fell asleep on the way home
all three, all at the same time.

(16:10):
I was like miracle magic. Sothen I drove around for a couple
hours, you know, like, enjoy thequiet, gas was cheaper, it was a
thing. You know, and then it'sfour o'clock, and all of a
sudden I'm closer to dinner, andI felt refreshed. And so I
change how we were doing earlychildhood, right then like

(16:30):
immediately, like I'm gonna stopdoing all these different
programs, you know, do some ofthem, there's nothing wrong with
them. But I couldn't sustainthat level of output for that
short period of time. And sothese things were lasting for
us, we would stay. Sometimes thekids are doing fine, you stay
till one o'clock you stay tilltwo o'clock, you know you're at
the apple orchard or whateverthe thing is. And so there was a

(16:50):
small group of moms. And when Isay small, I mean pretty small,
three or four, that were willingto live life the same way. And
we would just pick the bestweather days of the week, and we
would meet up and the kids wouldplay. And we would go home. Now
I did it really solely for myown mental health at the
beginning. Because I thought,well look, if I'm in a better

(17:12):
mental state, and I can be morepresent, and I'm not so
overwhelmed, I'll be a bettermom, we'll have a better family.
But what I noticed reallyquickly is that our kids were
all of a sudden thriving, likethey weren't getting sick as
much. They were happier, theywere eating better, they were
getting along better. It waslike an overnight change for

(17:32):
them too. And so it just took medown a path like the last 12
years of reading books about howtime simple time in nature,
nothing that the parent has tocoerce, like, you don't have to
plan anything for it. You don'thave to run games. And you don't
have to make scavenger hunts.
It's like the simple act ofstepping outside where you're at
the nature that you have aroundyou, helps kids develop in all

(17:55):
facets of their being. So ithelps their social skills that
help them emotionally, it helpsthem physically, it helps their
cognition. So it helps toacademics and helps them
spiritually if that's somethingthat families are looking for.
And it's doing the same for metoo. So it's sort of like this
win win. And I had no idea. Ilike nature, for me was an
afterthought. It's likesomebody's like, oh, yeah, we

(18:15):
can go to the park, or whateverif we have time, but I just
changed to having it be apriority. And we've been living
that way for 12 years, Katie 12years, the number came from the
number came from Dr. ScottSampson had a book called How to
Raise a wild child, there was astatistics out there about how
kids are outside for four toseven minutes a day. On average,

(18:37):
like in free play four to sevenminutes of free play outside a
day on average, which I don'tthink that kids are actually
playing for four minutes, Ithink that maybe they get like
30 minutes twice a week isprobably something like that,
because it was like an averagedaily thing. But on screens for
four to seven hours. And so Iused to be a math teacher. It
was intriguing to me. So I wascurious how much time we were

(18:59):
spending outside. And it addedup to about 1200 hours, like we
had this little nature groupthat was getting together a
couple times a week 18 to 20hours. So that was about 1200
hours a year. And that matchedthe amount of screen time back
in 2011 or 2012. That was theaverage amount of screen time
kids were getting. And so mythought was, Wow, what a
different life we would have. Ifall of that time had gone to

(19:24):
screens. Not that we're antiscreen, but that so much life
would just get sucked away. So Ijust thought, Well, hey, here's
the thing, like if that if kidsare on screens for 1200 hours a
year, then some time is therethat we can take from that and
divvy it up a little bit betterand have a little bit more
balanced because four to sevenminutes versus four to seven

(19:44):
hours is not balanced and keyand balanced. And barefoot is a
book by Angela Hanscom, who is apediatric occupational therapist
and she also talks about thethree hours a day is about the
amount that kids should havelike throughout the day.
entirety of childhood includingthe teen years for optimal
growth and development is anaverage of three hours outside a

(20:04):
day. So it was sort of this sortof within a year's period of
time, because there's differentseasons, we go through different
things for different seasons,figuratively, and literally, can
we aim to bring back balance tochildhood between real life and
virtual life?

Katie Doughty (20:22):
Oh, my gosh, what an incredible journey you've
been on and such a revelationthat I love that it started
with, like, I just need aminute. And I need to be a
better mom right now. And thisis going to be for me. And
what's so interesting, like yousaid about, you didn't even know
what they did. And that wastheir first experience being

(20:44):
outside for that long. And theyjust did it, which is such a
huge thing, like kids. They wantto be outside they want to play
and they know what to do. And Ithink we worry, you're going to
be bored, how am I going toentertain them? They're just
going to bug me, I they're goingto need all the things and I
just want to have a minute, butthey don't. I participate in a

(21:06):
wild and free group. And it's sointeresting to watch these kids
just go. Once they see a friend,they're like, I'm out. See you
later, mom, see you in a couplehours when I'm hungry. And they
they don't even have aplayground equipment, you know,
they can just enjoy, like yousaid, throwing rocks in the
stream or going for a littlehike or coming up with games in
the grass. They're so capable.
And they actually really loveit. So I think it's cool that

(21:30):
that happened to you on day onethat you were like, oh, yeah,
maybe this is okay,

Ginny Yurich (21:37):
one day to a life change one day,

Katie Doughty (21:39):
why didn't one day which is such a nice
reminder for parents who arelike, Oh, I just I don't know
about getting outside. And like,we have so many other things to
do. But literally one day, and Ihave to tell you about my son
because he he was he was notborn to love being dirty, or,
you know, being out in theelements like he's a definitely

(22:02):
an indoor kid. And granted, wehad COVID. And he was kind of
growing up in that time. But mydaughter is like she would live
in a mud puddle if I let her. Sothere are two very different
children. But with 1000 hoursoutside making that effort and
getting him outside, I'venoticed such a huge
transformation in his desire tobe outside and his ability to

(22:26):
find something to do because alot of the times he was like, I
don't know what to do. And hedidn't want to go outside
because he didn't know what todo. And so I had I was trying to
track. I love checking thingsoff. I am a box checker. So I
love your trackers. But I'm alsolike February 3, I'm like,
where's my tracker? I don't evenknow where it is. And a dear

(22:46):
friend told me she said, youknow, we I couldn't keep up with
the trackers. But all I tried todo is get outside every day.
That's it. I just tried to getoutside every day. I thought,
okay, I can try that. And so Igot my kids on board, and I made
them just like I was like amagnet board. So it said Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, all the way to
Senate. And they got to put on alittle animal every time they

(23:08):
went outside, they just had togo outside. I didn't put a
requirement on it. It was justthat and they thought that was
so cool. That one day afterabout a week or two, I heard my
son yelled down the hall Mom,I'm going to get my time
outside. And I was like it'shappening like you just putting
in that little bit of effort ismaking all the difference. And

(23:29):
I've noticed for him, you know,he's kind of clumsy before and
not really aware of his body.
And I've just noticed a hugetransformation in the amount of
time we've been outside that hehas more control over his body
movements. And like he's more,he's a lot braver and more
courageous and trying new thingsand claiming and it's just made
all the difference for me and mykids. So I'm so grateful that

(23:51):
you figured this out, and nowyou're sharing with us.

Ginny Yurich (23:56):
I mean, I didn't even figure it out. It's like my
friend figured it out at mops.
Her name's Angela. And she livesin Texas. So she figured out
after Charlotte Mason figured itout. So, you know, I think it's
just about finding what worksfor you. And I mean, I I wrote
about it and talked about it foryears and years and years and
years before anyone else waslike, oh, yeah, that works for
me, too. It's about beingintentional. I think it's about

(24:18):
knowing, in this high pressureparenting society, where we feel
this pressure as soon as kidsare born born, even before
they're born, like you know, Iremember thinking like, I had
the fact that like, I'm gonnaput these headphones on my
pregnant belly and play theMozart. I mean, I you have those
thoughts of this race, thisfeeling of a race and hustle.

(24:39):
But it's just such a gift toknow that, like what you said,
when the kids get together andthey just run off and play. They
have profound capacity to selfeducate, and to learn what they
need to learn in their own timeand to grow, how they need to
grow and their own On timeframe,and we can trust that I mean,

(25:01):
their kids are phenomenal. Yes,

Katie Doughty (25:05):
it's trusting the child, which is hard to do
sometimes. But it is so true.
Giving them the time and thespace that they need without
overscheduling every minute oftheir day is so profound, it
just makes all the difference.
And I've loved thesehomeschooling years, I was a
public school teacher, before Ihad my daughter, and then she

(25:28):
started public school, she wentto kindergarten in first grade,
and then everything shut down infirst grade. So I homeschooled.
And then I fell in love with it.
And I found people like you, I'mlike, Oh, this is a thing. This
is a whole beautiful thing thatI want to be a part of. And it's
just given my family the timeback that I didn't know I was
missing. And then I didn't knowmy kids needed. And now I get to

(25:51):
watch them spend hours outsidebuilding a sand cafe, you know,
while their peers are inside,you know, in their chairs, and I
just, I'm so grateful for thattime, not only for the
relationship with each other,but just their own mental health
and ability to grow. So it'sbeen, it's just been a beautiful

(26:12):
thing to watch unfold. And I, Ilove that nature is a part of
it. Yeah,

Ginny Yurich (26:19):
it's like we've lost the wisdom that the sand
Cafe is worthy. Yes, it's justas worthy as any of the other
thing is, and I think we arereally unbalanced in that way,
as well. And we talked aboutscreens, screens and outside
time and screens and hands onexperiences. There's an
imbalance there. But there isalso an imbalance between we are

(26:42):
whole people. And so if we'regoing to spend X amount of time
on cognitive growth, andcognitive growth happens outside
too, it doesn't just happen atthe desk. But we're gonna spend
so much time it's like if we gotthis pie, right of all the
different slices of it. It'slike, so much of it is filled up
with the academics. It's like,well, what about their social
skills, and, oh, man, I just hadthis moving conversation with

(27:03):
this 20 year old college studentnamed Sean Killingsworth. And he
started it's really small atthis point, it's called the
reconnect movement. And he justis lamenting, Haiti about his
childhood lamenting like,grieved, because he says,
there's no ways to make socialconnections anymore because of
phones. And he was talkingabout, I mean, these are

(27:23):
grieving experiences. Like hesaid, he showed up for some an
after school program, when hewas eight years old, he said, I
was so excited to play with theother kids. And he said, every
single child was on a NintendoDS, every single one, he said
into, there was no way tointeract, and that this has
become the landscape ofchildhood. And I just think all
we're so focused on these testscores, and yet, we're not

(27:46):
demanding that the kids puttheir phones away when they're
together. And it's just there'sa, there's an imbalance there.

Katie Doughty (27:52):
It's heartbreaking when you think
about it, and then they don'thave those skills later in life
that they should be developing.
Now, it's also the ability topass time without grabbing a
screen is so important for them,or to be able to regulate their
own emotions, without needing ascreen to be the one to feed
that. And it's, it'soverwhelming as a parent to

(28:13):
navigate that, and then also bethe one that's like, I'm sorry,
but you're not going to have aphone at eight years old. I know
your friend has one. But this ishow our family works. You know,
and it's yeah, it's a lot. Ifeel like it's a lot to take on
the

Ginny Yurich (28:30):
lap. It's a lot.
But I think that if we areleaders and I, in talking about
that, Sean and thinking about itmore, because I've had
experiences too, with our ownkids who feel left out, but it's
the people someone has to take astand, someone has to do
something these kids are reallysuffering. And the problem is,
is that if only one parent doesit, it doesn't make any
difference. There has to be agroup of parents. So you can get

(28:50):
together with a wild and freegroup or you you start to pull
in other people and you say,Look, when we spend time
together, it's going to be phonefree time. And these kids are
going to be able to have theseexperiences where if they're not
videotaped, they don't have tobe self conscious. And they can
just dive deep into their playand be kids and grow in all of
the ways that we need to grow tobecome whole healthy, thriving

(29:12):
people.

Katie Doughty (29:17):
That's so true.
And you just touched onsomething interesting you said
not be videotaped. Isn't aninteresting like, the only time
we were videotaped as kids waslike a birthday because it was
one big event and then you hadan hour and a half of the same
event and then nothing againuntil Christmas or the next
birthday or a wedding orsomething. And now our kids are
filmed every single day there isdocumentation of almost every

(29:40):
single day of their life and I'mcurious how that will affect
them into the or their adulthoodand is it changing their like
their self consciousness ortheir awareness or what they're
doing? Are they actingdifferently because the cameras
on and it's such a it's such aninteresting thing. So do you put
Your phone like do you not takepictures? Often when you're

(30:01):
outside or film when you'reoutside? Is that kind of a rule
that you have in your family? Orhow do you navigate that we

Ginny Yurich (30:07):
so no, I do take pictures, because this is part
of what we do. But I tend to doit in sections, you know. So
like, I'll take it out, I'll getsome pictures of where we're at,
and then put it away. So thatseems to work for us. But it's
definitely something that Ithink about, I think it's
something that as kids getolder, and they each have a,
there's a different set ofmotivation for a parent, right?

(30:28):
So it's like if my child doessomething that they might be
embarrassed of. I'm not going topost that. Yeah. But I think
there's a difference when yougot a bunch of middle schoolers
together, or a bunch of highschoolers together, and someone
does something that's slightlyembarrassing, or, and then
they're, you know, that's,that's there forever, it can be
captured. And just think that'sa tricky part of the landscape

(30:52):
of childhood these days that wedidn't have to deal with. Yeah,

Katie Doughty (30:55):
well, and I'm wondering, too, I know,
conversation over technology isso important with our kids and
helping them understand. AndI've heard people talk about,
like, when you're on your phonetalking out loud, oh, I'm just
checking an email, and then I'mgoing to put my phone away, or I
know that this that I won't pullor asking permission to post a

(31:16):
picture of your child, I think,was one of the really big things
that started showing up. Like Ithought, Oh, that is really
important. Because if I askedtheir permission, they're going
to think, oh, that's the rule,I'm going to ask my friend, if I
can post this picture of her,you know, and kind of modeling
for them, what appropriateposting behavior looks like, and
then showing them to like, Oh,what if somebody posted

(31:38):
something about you? That wasreally embarrassing? How would
that feel? And how would youhandle that? You know? And then
how do you do deal with that,like, you have a funny picture
of your friend? Do you post iteven though she's like, that's
embarrassing, you know, andhaving those conversations
early, so that they know how tonavigate that I, I'm hopeful
that we can have those and thatwe can start changing the
landscape of what social mediais becoming. But yeah, that's a

(32:01):
whole other story.

Ginny Yurich (32:02):
There's a lot, there really is a lot to sift
through with it. And it's just areally interesting thing to
think about someone else'sexperience that's so different
from ours. So it's vastlydifferent. And, you know, I
think that we do everyone afavor, even though it may not
seem like a big deal, when weallow our kids to be with other

(32:23):
kids in phone free spaces. Soit's interesting for their
social skills, and yeah, theiremotional health and all those
different things,

Katie Doughty (32:33):
when to when you take it off the table. So we're
going outside, and we're notbringing any electronics with
us. I noticed when it's off thetable, they don't ask for it.
And they don't need it, when itcould possibly be an option,
like it's in the backpack orit's in the car, then they're
asking, then they want to go getit, then they want to play on
it. But when you just say, we'renot using it, or you can use it

(32:53):
tonight at 7pm, then they knowand they don't ask for it. And
that's been really helpful inour family. Sure.

Ginny Yurich (33:00):
Sure. That's a good way to do it. For sure.
Yeah, I do think that we need tohave limits. Yeah, for

Katie Doughty (33:05):
sure. It's all about balance. My whole life
philosophy is it's all aboutbalance. Like if you're gonna
eat the cookie have a carrot,right? If you're gonna be on
screens, let's go outside. It'sall about balance, for sure.
Okay, so what have you noticedthen, in your own children
about? I mean, you've talked alittle bit about that. But now

(33:25):
they're growing, they're older.
What do you notice about in yourown kids having gotten out in
nature. Now as they're gettingolder?

Ginny Yurich (33:34):
Well, I noticed that it gets more fun. But you
know what, I just think all kidsare different. So you can't
really take your own experienceand say, This is how it's going
to be for everybody else. Yeah.
But there are definitely a lotof studies and things that show
how all of his time outsidehelps like with risk management,
it helps kids to really be intheir bodies. And it really does
actually help with their neuralwiring. So all of these

(33:56):
connections that we have in ourbrains, when we engage in
movements that are complex, andwe do harder and harder things,
which is how childhood goes ifkids have time and space, then
it helps all those connectionsto work faster. And so our kids,
they're just fine. Like they'refine in social settings, they're

(34:18):
fine to play, pretend they'velearned. And this is gonna sound
really funny, I would saythey've learned quickly how to
read and write. But we didn'talso start till they were seven
years old. So you some peoplemight say that actually took
them a really long time tolearn. But once they hit that
age, and their eyes were fullyformed, and their eyes are used
to tracking together becausethey've romps through the woods.

(34:40):
And they have got corestrengths. So it's easy for them
to sit and they're interested inthey're interesting, that you
know, they learn to read andsometimes, like for our oldest
son, we did this program overthe course of a couple of months
and I looked back it took us 10hours to come 10 hours to go
from being completely illiterate, to reading chapter
books, 10 hours of instruction.

(35:03):
And with our youngest daughteron this has been the funnest
thing because she's our fifthone. And I read all these books
about how kids do learn to readin the right environments at the
right time without necessarilybeing formally taught. And
that's what we did. I was like,I'm gonna try it, because I can
always go back, I've got thelesson book, but I'm gonna give
it a shot. And when she asks,and she wants to know what this

(35:23):
letter is, and what's that word,and we'll sound it out. And
we'll kind of just like how wewould do anything else in life,
we'll just kind of like, put itin when she's interested. And we
were just at a museum justyesterday at this shipwreck
Museum in Michigan, and she wasreading the signs, oh, my gosh,
your instruction, Katie, didn'tdo anything.

Katie Doughty (35:42):
I want to talk about this. Yeah, so cool, cuz I
did the same thing with my son.
Because I know from experience,the more you push it at an
earlier age, they're notnecessarily going to be better
readers in the long run, theymay actually resent it and not
want to be a reader, they don'tfind enjoyment in it. And so
with my son, I did the samething. I didn't have formal

(36:06):
lessons, I thought, I'm gonnaplan is that like, you're right,
I could go back and teach him ifthis doesn't work. But I'm gonna
let him do this on his own andfigure it out on his own and
just give him the time and thespace and the resources that he
needs. And like you said, answerthe questions when he has them.
read to him talk about whatwe're reading, like in this
natural setting. And then you'reright, all of a sudden, you

(36:28):
picked up this graphic novel,and he's reading it to me, and I
thought, How did you like it, itworked like you are actually
reading these big words that Ididn't teach you the letter
pattern of that word, or thesound bite or the vowel pattern
of that word. But you, youfigured it out. And it's
fascinating. And it was such anice reminder to be like, they

(36:49):
will teach themselves, what theyneed to know when they need to
know it, and when they're readyto learn it. And that's such a
huge thing.

Ginny Yurich (36:59):
Yeah, the pressure is off, I think. And when you
take your kids outdoors, itreally is laying the foundation
for those types of things tohappen. And you know, some some
kids that have dyslexia, theyneed a different set of
scaffolding. So it's not forevery single child. And it
doesn't work in every singlecircumstance. So you have to be
aware of what's going on withyour kids and your family. But

(37:22):
for all kids, sensoryexperiences, movement, those
relationships, those types ofthings, help them for the long
haul, in all the things thatthey're trying to accomplish.
And so, whatever the timing isfor that, or whatever your
situation is, those things, theylay those, those beginning

(37:44):
blocks for everything that's tocome. And that's like, what I
had no idea, you know, I justthought, well, nature's nature's
frivolous, or what's moreimportant is that we learn
French, and that we go to Frenchimmersion class, and, you know,
so it's like, well, yes, arethose things important? Yeah,
you can, you can do that, too.
But if the wiring is there, andthe neurons are moving faster on
those pathways, then it makes iteasier to learn anything down

(38:08):
the road. And so that's whattime and nature is doing for our
kids. Yes.

Katie Doughty (38:14):
And taking learning outside. My kids get so
excited. When we have adestination, we're going to a
park or we're going to the zoo,and we're going to do our work
there. And it's getting outsidejust kind of I feel like it
levels the playing field. Oneperson's grumpy one person's
having a bad day like we getoutside. And it kind of

(38:35):
neutralizes everything for us.
And because it's fresh, and Ilove that. Oh, and I remember
one thing that I absolutelyloved that was so validating to
me, because I didn't grow up,like outdoorsy, I was not an
outdoorsy kid. I didn't like tobe dirty. I definitely preferred
the comfort of home just kind oflike my son in the beginning.
And so getting outside sometimesis a challenge for me. And we

(38:57):
can talk about I would love yourtips on reluctant parents,
because I was one. But I thinkthat what you said, What did you
say? Oh, sometimes the best partabout getting outside is coming
home. And I thought, yes, thatis absolutely true. Sometimes
like, I feel guilty that I don'tlove being out there all the
time. I do love that feeling ofcoming home. But then I have

(39:21):
that sense of accomplishment.
Like we did it. We did the hardthing. And now we get to just
lay around in the warm home andread books and drink hot
chocolate or whatever it is orbut I love that validating
moment of like sometimes it isokay to be like the best part
was coming home today becauseit's, you know, rainy.

Ginny Yurich (39:39):
I mean, nature, nature is rarely perfect. I
think, you know, if you look ata course of a year and people
live in different areas, but youknow, the course of a year,
maybe more Michigan, maybethere's 30 Really beautiful
days. The rest of them are notthey're dreary, they're rainy,
they're cold. They're too hot.
There's too many bugs. There'sall these different things and I
think Michael Easter wrote abook called Comfort crisis. And

(39:59):
Belinda McGurk talks about thisin her book called, there's no
such thing as bad weather. Andshe has a new one out called the
Open Air life. But that you haveto have the extremes in order to
feel better. Like, you know, ifyou're always the same, but it's
always 70 degrees inside yourhouse. It's always the same, and
you never feel these differentextremes. Well, there's, there's
no, there's no happiness either,right? Like, you have to feel

(40:23):
like that, oh, I was reallycold. And I come in. And when
you're really cold, and you comein, and you have a hot drink,
and you sit by a fire, or you,you get under the blanket, that
feels way better than if youwere just at 70 the whole time.
70 degrees. So those extremes innature I think helps us to learn
to deal with the things that wecan't control. And helps us to
deal with adversity, and grit. Imean, we just had a big storm

(40:47):
come through. Our youngestdaughter really likes our
garden, which is not an amazinggarden, but she loves it. And we
will go back out there and sheis screaming, I mean screaming
about the things that she finds.
She's so excited. Look at this,look at this. And I mean yelling
at the top of her lungs aboutmom, you know, and then we have

(41:08):
this big storm come through andall of our sunflowers got
demolished, or most of them did.
And she was heartbroken. Oh, shecried and cried. But these are
experiences when they're littlefor them to start to deal with a
little bit of adversity, alittle bit of disappointment.
Yeah. And then you notice whatthis other thing is still
growing, or this didn't get hit,or even if at all, even if it

(41:29):
all went away. We love eachother. I mean, those are the
types of lessons that you getfrom Mother Nature, because
there isn't perfection outthere. There's thorns and
there's mosquitoes and you tripand you skinned your knee and
those things happen. But I thinkit helps kids to grow in small
ways to learn how to deal withvariability. Oh, what

Katie Doughty (41:54):
a beautiful point. And also for her saying
goodbye to the sunflowers. Butthen knowing next spring, you
get to replant. And then kind ofmaybe even bringing this story
back to her mind of remember howsad you were when those
sunflowers were destroyed by thestorm. And now look, this one's
growing. I see a little leaf andshe can be hopeful and she can

(42:14):
watch. You know,

Ginny Yurich (42:16):
try again. You try again.

Katie Doughty (42:18):
Try again. That's That's it right there. You try
again. And I feel like that'swhat it is for me getting
outside. Okay, I'm gonna tryagain. It's Tuesday. I really
try again, gonna get outside. Doyou have favorite gear? Like do
you have favorite things thatyou absolutely have to have when
you go outside?

Ginny Yurich (42:36):
No, I don't at all. I'm not outdoorsy either. I
mean, I like to play the pianoand I like to read books. So
that's how I grew up. I mean, wedefinitely played outside and
the Angela Hanscom, who wrotebalanced and barefoot, she would
say and this is prettyinteresting that most people, if
they looked back in time, theylooked at their childhood, that
they probably were outside foran average of three hours a day.

(42:56):
Like we walked to school, it wasa mile. So that was a half hour
on either end. There's an hourright there, we had three RIT I
remember that we had threerecesses in elementary school
and they were each 45 minutes atleast. So you know, there's my
time. I mean, I got it. And thenwe would come home. And I
remember we'd play in the yard.
And we just lived in the suburb,we play catch, and we'd ride
bikes and stuff like that. Butthat's how childhood was. And it

(43:17):
wasn't like my favorite thing,or my go to thing. So now it's
the same way. I always say, Idon't like going outside. But I
like being outside. I thinkgetting over that hump is hard.
You have to pack stuff. Anddepending on the age of your
kids, it can be a lot of work.
Our kids are older now. So Idon't have to do as much, which

(43:39):
is really fun. Yeah, very nice.
But I always say like, you don'tneed much you need food that you
know good food, food that yourkids like you need, and water
and then you need if you bringyour friends, my favorite gear
is my friends. I mean love it.
That's the best thing to bringour other people in different
relationships. Like we don'thave any specific gear. I

(44:01):
remember when our kids werelittle like we had no money.
Yeah. So everything we had washand me downs and whatever. We
could get those like mom to momsales for like a couple dollars.
So I've never been super big ongear. You know, we have water
bottles and we had a stroller. Idon't know, you might even know
more than I do.

Katie Doughty (44:20):
Now just curious if you have like a favorite set
of waterproof pants or like meto keep an eye out.

Ginny Yurich (44:28):
It was like whatever I could find them we
could afford. I mean, that'swhat we did. So love it. And it
worked. I think you got to tryyour best with what you have.
And because that can be prettyprohibitive, right? Like if you
feel like oh my gosh, I can't gooutside and let's say of that
$150 snowsuit well, then you'renot gonna be able to get out
there but Right. There's a lotof people kids grow so fast that
a lot of times you can find thedifferent things as Hami downs.

(44:50):
Yes. And

Katie Doughty (44:51):
they do outgrow they'll put on their boots to go
outside and then they don't fitand they get fit. Yeah,
yesterday what happened?

Ginny Yurich (44:59):
We have actually done like for our kids, we buy
all black boots. I pass themdown. You know, we've gotten
into the habit of just, it'sjust for functionality. And then
it goes to the next kid.

Katie Doughty (45:09):
Yeah, yeah, that's actually really smart. So
what do you what tips do youhave then for kids who are
reluctant to play outside? Orthey don't know what to do? Or,
or even reluctant moms? Do youhave any tips of?

Ginny Yurich (45:22):
Well, I'm like reluctant every day. Yeah. I
mean, my tip is that you have toknow, you have to know that it's
worth it. I think that's thefirst thing. And I think that is
what changes things. For me.
That's why I continue to post.
That's why I continue to read,because this is not actually
what I really want to do. Ireally want to organize my
house, I really want to readbooks, I really want to go out
to lunch with my friends, Ireally want to do all of these

(45:44):
other things that are not that,that are not packing kids up to
go outside and making plans withfriends. I mean, that takes a
lot of time. But I know thatthis is what's helping our kids
prepare for the future. And it'swhat's helping them have a
really good day today. And Iknow also, it's good for me. I
mean, I'm in a technologicalage, you're in a technological
age. So we also need thatbalance. So I start with the

(46:05):
knowledge that this is a worthyuse of time. It's important. And
so by having a goal, that's whyI have a goal, like I'm still
doing it, Katie, it's not forme, it's not second nature, yet,
and I don't think it ever willbe because there's so many
things that vie for our time, soI have to fight for that. So I
have an intentional about it,because otherwise I wouldn't do

(46:28):
it. So I start there. I thinkfriends make or break and
experience. If you have littlekids, it's safer, for sure it's
safer. Sometimes you're runninginto who knows, and you want to
have an extra pair of eyesthere. So I think finding just
at least one one other friendthat will go with you. And then
you have that multi age play.
That really helps. I think theknowledge that sometimes it

(46:51):
takes kids a while to come upwith what they're going to play.
So that's another thing thatthat Angela Hanscom talks about
that's a life changing read. Ifyou're a parent, and this seems
new to you, and you're kind oflike, Man, I'm curious, I want
to know more. Her book is calledbalanced and barefoot. And she's
a pediatric occupationaltherapist. So she's coming from
a standpoint of saying, Look,things are changing in the

(47:11):
landscape of childhood, like allof a sudden, my list for people
who want occupational therapyservices for kids is a year
long. And it didn't used to be awaitlist of a year. And now it
is so things are actuallychanging. And she says that in a
lot of cases, not all, but in alot of cases, simply taking your
kids outside is going to helpwith a lot of the sensory issues
that they have, or, or differentthings that they need help with.

(47:33):
And so she says in her book, itcan take up to 45 minutes for
kids to determine how they'regoing to play 45 minutes, that's
a long time. And you got to kindof sit with that and be able to
say to your kids, I It's okaythat you're bored. Or I know, I
think you'll come up withsomething to do. And you have to
be willing to be in that spaceof uncomfortableness to know

(47:54):
that they're going to figure itout eventually. And, and Angela
has even said, because she runsthis program called timbernook,
where they bring kids in andit's a drop off program. So
parents are drop off in a spacethat's like outdoors. And maybe
they have different waterelements or things like that.
They're I think they're all overthe world, her programs, but
it's like this drop off thing.

(48:17):
And she says for some kids whohave maybe never been in that
environment before, she'll sayfor a while it may take them
longer than 45 minutes.

Katie Doughty (48:26):
That's a long time. You're right. But
eventually, yeah, sitting withthat discomfort, I think is such
a good reminder for parents,because we're so quick to find
something for them. Because wedon't want them to be
uncomfortable, or we don't wantthem to start whining or give up
that we will come up with a gamefor them. Or we will give them
suggestions. And and it's hardfor me to step back and let them

(48:48):
just be and say I like what yousaid, I know you can do this. I
know you can come up withsomething to do I'm sure you'll
think of something fun thatyou'll enjoy. Yeah, and let it
be. Yeah.

Ginny Yurich (48:58):
And know that.
Look, I mean, we are in arapidly changing world, a
rapidly changing world who knewthat there will be podcasters I
didn't know that Job was a jobwhen I was 18 years old, right
to be a podcast or when you'reolder. I mean, who knew these
things didn't exist. And that'swhat's going to be the same for
our kids. What's coming arethings that don't exist at this

(49:19):
exact moment. And so they haveto be able to be flexible, and
they have to be creative. Andthey have to be able to dive
into these unknown situationsand figure them out. Well, you
don't learn that at a desk.
Yeah, you learn it outside. Youlearn it inside when you're
playing when things are openended. And so particularly for

(49:41):
this time in life, these skillsets that come from what seems
frivolous are actually reallyimportant.

Katie Doughty (49:48):
Yeah. And it's so important to keep that in mind
too. Because there is thatstigma of like that play is not
valued. It's not valuable. It'ssomething that It's your right,
frivolous, it's extra. Did youget all your work done, okay,
now you can play. And I havereally had to work hard at
changing the way I view play.
And when I hear my kids deep inplay, if I had other plans, I

(50:11):
let them go to the best that Ican, and let them play. Because
play is the work they need to bedoing. That is where they are
getting their creative skills,and they're working with each
other. And they are problemsolving. And they are using
their imagination and creatingthese worlds. And I noticed, I
feel like I didn't have that asmuch as a kid. I was not as

(50:33):
imaginative. I think I didn'tdive into those worlds as much.
And now I noticed my kids canjust create these worlds that
are so detailed. And there areso many things going on. And
then I'll sit down to play andthey'll hand me something and
all I can do is like bounce itup and down. Say hello. Oh,
hello, how are you doing? Youknow, but they're like, No, Mom,

(50:54):
this is so and so. And he has soand so. And this is so and
literally it's just this entireworld. And I think that comes
from time and just letting themdo it.

Ginny Yurich (51:05):
Isn't that amazing? Katie, it's like then
you look at your your child. AndI think this is where we have it
backwards. We're like, well,we're the adult and we've lived
2025 years longer than theyhave. So we know more things.
But then when you really take astep back, you're like, oh, wait
a minute. They're better at thisthan I am. Yeah. Yeah, there's
kind of, well, they'recompetent. They're good at

(51:27):
playing pretend they're betterat bouncing on the log. You,
like you said the verybeginning. They know what to do.

Katie Doughty (51:34):
They know what to do. They do they know what to
do. And you're right. And it'sso beautiful to watch it unfold.
And it's so thrilling as a momto see your kids start thriving
in different areas, just bygiving them time, it wasn't
anything I did. I didn't guidecurriculum and sit down and show
them how to do these things. Itjust gave them time to do it and

(51:56):
practice. And now it's payingoff. And it's so nice to see the
payoff like, Okay, this isworking. I can keep going. This
is valuable. It's a littlehumbling. It's very, right. We
can't

Ginny Yurich (52:10):
really, we can't really take credit for a lot of
it's not me, and it's comingfrom them. Yeah, that's good. I
think that's a good thing.

Katie Doughty (52:16):
I think that's a good thing, too. Okay, can we
dive into your new book? Sure.
Talk about your new book comingout. I'm so excited about what
do you already do? You have toout now. And I actually

Ginny Yurich (52:29):
have quite a few books, which is ironic because I
was a math teacher. So I don'teven really look at myself as a
writer, I have four books. Oneof them is a kid's book. It's
called the little farmhouse inWest Virginia. So it's a kids
book. And it's about

Katie Doughty (52:44):
think I knew this one,

Ginny Yurich (52:46):
okay, how kids play. It's based off of like my
own childhood experiences andhow people have a lot of great
memories as kids playingoutside. So there's that one,
that was the first one I did.
And then I have a, an activitybook that we self published
because it was supposed to bewith the publisher, but then
they canceled on me during COVIDafter it was already done. So

(53:06):
self publish that which ended upbeing a cool experience. It's
called the 1000 hours outsideactivity book. And then I wrote
a book called one that they'reall called 1000 hours outside.

Katie Doughty (53:19):
I love it. I guess you said that one time
into real you're like you guys,I've named this one, this is

Ginny Yurich (53:30):
also called 1000 hours outside. So that's the
most recent one that was with DKPublishing. And that's a cool
book, people have sent in photosfrom all over the world, just
kind of like a really neat thingfilled with activities. But the
one that's coming out thisNovember is called until the
streetlights come on. It's abook I've wanted to write for
years and years. That title hasbeen with me for a really long
time. But the premise is, thesubtitle is how a return to play

(53:52):
brightens our today and prepareskids for an uncertain future.
The premise is that we can havea good today, that leads to a
good tomorrow. That's thepremise of the book. And so so
often, we sacrifice today, wesacrifice today for the sake of
tomorrow. And actually, I thinkthat's really backwards, that
our full lives. And when I sayfull life, it's like, you know,

(54:13):
it's like we don't, it doesn'thave to be at the desk. And it
doesn't have to be able tohomework. And it doesn't have to
be all that like it can be afull vibrant life, that your
kids love that you love.
Whatever it is about you thatyou know you love to bake, you
love to be in the garden, youlove to be with friends, we love
to skateboard, whatever you lovemusic, that you fill your lives
and you make it full. And whatthat does is it helps our kids

(54:34):
develop as his whole peoplehelps their brains to have these
strong connections. And thenthey are ready for whatever
tomorrow holds. Because we don'tknow what that is. And we used
to have careers that lasted for30 years. And we only have one
set of coworkers. But now we'vegot kids who are going to
graduate from college or tradeschool they might have four

(54:55):
different careers in the firstdecade of their adult lives.
That's what the average is rightnow. That's a lot of coworkers,
Katie. So you got to be able tohave good social skills, you
have to be able to navigate allthese different things. And so I
think it's this counterculture,thought that what does that is
living fully today. It's notnecessarily this back to basics,

(55:16):
give them the tests, make surethey have this GPA score, you
know, all of that, make surethey get this score on that
test. It's really not that thatmay have worked in decades past
when life looked different, butit's not that way now. And so we
want our kids to be resilient.

(55:36):
We want them to have quick,adaptable brains. And the cool
message is, the way they getthat is through a full life,
that you get to live with themtoday. And so I think it makes
all of our existences all of ourlives better. It's really a
message of hope.

Katie Doughty (55:55):
Oh, my gosh, I can't wait to read all that. So
exciting. The message soundsabsolutely beautiful, and just
what we need right now, becauseyou're right, I think that
education had a purpose long agoto instill knowledge that you
had to memorize because youcouldn't just Google it. My kids
literally say, you know, hey,Google told me about this. And

(56:16):
then they know about it. Andthen it's over, where I spent
probably a month in school,learning about that one thing
and trying to remember, memorizethat one, or whatever,

Ginny Yurich (56:25):
I'm gonna memorize dates memorize timelines. Yeah.
But it thinks the world hasreally changed. In fact, Neil
Postman, wrote a book, it'scalled amusing ourselves to
death. It's a really neat bookhe wrote in the 80s, about
television. And he said, In thatbook change changed. That change
used to happen over the courseof a generation, that knowledge

(56:46):
was generational. So you know,that maybe there was a there
was, there were careers thatbecame obsolete in the past as
well. But they didn't becomeobsolete so rapidly, right? They
still lasted for decades upondecades, and then you know,
something else came and so youhad time to adjust. But now, a
lot of these things are becomingobsolete more quickly. And so we

(57:07):
have to be able to adjustfaster, almost kids that play,
they can adjust,

Katie Doughty (57:11):
they can adjust, yes, that goes back to the
pretend play, where they have toadjust when something comes up,
or a new friend comes in andwants to play. Okay, well, now I
need to think of a role for you,how are you going to fit into
this scenario, and everything isadjusting for them when you let
them just play and outdoors isthe best space to do it. Because
I feel like most most kids arein their element when they are

(57:35):
outside and outdoors.

Ginny Yurich (57:37):
Outdoors is good, too, because the there's an
abundance of raw supplies. So alot of times inside, right, you
only have one of a certain typeof Barbie or one of a certain
type of car. And so there's alot of fighting over
particulars. But when you'reoutside, it's like, hey, well,
look, there's a ton of ferns,there's a ton of sticks. And
there's an abundance ofmaterials that kids can use. And

(57:58):
so there's a little less of theterritory, a little less of the
fighting. It just makes iteasier for everyone, including
the parent.

Katie Doughty (58:06):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think to my kids justdiscovered building driftwood,
forts. And I, I was I had you inthe back of my mind about
because you've talked a lotabout, you know, the pushing,
and the pulling, and thegrabbing and the lifting and all
of that hard work that's goinginto their play, where as
opposed to when they're insideand playing Lego, they might not
be doing all of that work, butoutside. They think they're

(58:28):
playing, when really they'reworking. And they are changing
their bodies and their brains atthe same time. Beautiful,
fantastic.
Oh my gosh, well, so when isyour book coming out?

Ginny Yurich (58:42):
comes out November 14. All right. So right in time
for the holidays, mark

Katie Doughty (58:46):
your calendars.
That is well that'll be anamazing book too for new parents
and, you know, friends andpeople with kids, and that's
gonna be a great, awesome book.
Oh my gosh, I feel like I couldtalk to you for another 17 hours
about this topic. I still havelike so many things written
down. But I just Oh no, I haveone more question. Before we go.

(59:07):
This one I wanted to know if youhave an if you have knowledge
about this. Have you ever heardof grounding or earthing?

Ginny Yurich (59:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, you're exchanging your electrons
with the earth. Absolutely.

Katie Doughty (59:17):
Tell me more. Can you dive in just a little bit I
don't know anymore. anymore. But

Ginny Yurich (59:21):
I do know that these type of things they exist
and you're the negative ionsthat are around the waterfall
like these type of things existand the way that the trees smell
and the these different chemicalthings that are actually
happening outside they help usfeel better. So I don't know
that just the ins and outs ofwhy it works. But there is a lot

(59:43):
to be said about being barefootoutside and a lot to be said
about full spectrum light andall of these components of
nature that are doing things forour body. Yeah.

Katie Doughty (59:53):
Which is incredible that it's just a gift
that's sitting out there waitingfor you to take it advantage of
it. I watched there was adocumentary on earthing and I
watched it and I had my kidswatch it. And now our my
daughter, Alice, she's a selfproclaimed shoe hater. And she
wants to be barefoot all of thetime. So her feet are black all

(01:00:14):
of the time with dirt becauseshe's constantly going barefoot.
And there are times I'm like,okay, there are certain places
you have to put your shoes onfor safety. But she's like, Mom,
look, I'm grounding, and she'srunning around in the backyard.
And so I feel like that kind ofinformation, kids understand it.
And they are more receptive tothat kind of knowledge. And

(01:00:35):
they'll take it and run with it.
And even my son, who doesn'tlike to have dirty feet, and
he'll go out and be like, Mom, Ithink I'm gonna go ground for a
while and he'll go walk aroundbarefoot. You know, he's not as
energetic about it. But he'llhe'll do it because he knows
that there are health benefitsto it. Right? He's seven years
old, but he understands like,this is good for me. And I'm
going to take advantage of it.

(01:00:57):
So it just interesting.

Ginny Yurich (01:00:58):
Yeah, kids are so smart. They can pick up on all
that stuff.

Katie Doughty (01:01:01):
They are so smart. Oh my gosh. Okay, so tell
us everywhere we can find you.
What do we need to be following?
Where can we find the cool stuffabout? Well, that

Ginny Yurich (01:01:12):
guy, no creativity here, Katie, everything is 1000
hours outside. Three of the fourbooks are called 1000 hours
outside the website at 1000hours outside of the 1000 hours
outside podcast, we have the1000 hours outside app, it's all
the same. The tracker is 1000hours outside slash trackers. I
mean, that's where you find it.
I'm not super creative. Andeverything is easy to find in
that way. But

Katie Doughty (01:01:35):
it's simple, right? If you keep it, well,
people will find it and theywill do it. And so I think
that's amazing. And I just haveto shout out your podcast is one
of my top favorites. I just Iget so excited when a new
episode shows out because youbring on such cool people and
such interesting thoughts thatevery time I listen, I'm always
like, Okay, I need that book. OrI can take this little nugget

(01:01:58):
away, or this one little pieceof inspiration. And it also I
feel like it keeps me goingbecause I listen. I'm reminded,
okay, I'll get outside. I'll doit again. And I just appreciate
that. So much. So I'm shoutingout. Go listen to your podcast.
1000 hours outside. Ginny isfantastic.

Ginny Yurich (01:02:17):
Thanks so much, Katie. It's so fun. The podcast
is an absolute blast, and atotal gift to get to talk to
some of these different authorsand people who really have made
a difference in my own life andin the lives of others. So it's
been really cool. Do

Katie Doughty (01:02:29):
you have a top favorite? That's like this one?
Yeah, I really

Ginny Yurich (01:02:33):
like him. John Payne, he has a one called the
undeclared war on childhood. AndI just think that was so life
changing for me. There's so muchin there. And

Katie Doughty (01:02:44):
I would say that will be a top favorite of mine.
Yeah. Okay, so I have to finishwith what is your absolute
favorite outdoor childhoodmemory.

Ginny Yurich (01:02:53):
Okay, I have really, really great memories of
doing canoe trips with my dad,and they were through church,
and they would do these fatherdata canoe trips, I think they
were just overnight, and theywere in October, in Michigan,
which is cold. So we would gocanoe down. It's called the
Isabell River. It's a famousriver in Michigan, and you would

(01:03:13):
go I think just one overnight,everyone would be in their
coats. And it would just be likechilly, but all the leaves will
be changing. And I just rememberreally loving that. And I still
have to be on the river. That'sstill one of my favorite things
to do.

Katie Doughty (01:03:25):
It's such a peaceful place to be. And I love
that that ties to your dad as amemory of yeah, good memory.
Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful.
Well, Jeannie, I can't thank youenough for sitting down with me
and chatting with me about allof the amazing things and
benefits of getting outside andwhat you're up to. This has been
so fun, and I'll put all of yourinformation in the show notes so

(01:03:46):
that people can follow you andget outside. Thanks

Ginny Yurich (01:03:52):
so much, Katie. I really appreciate your time and
thanks to everyone who made itto the end. Thanks for listening
in